Chris Olave DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

New Orleans Saints wide receivers Chris Olave (head) and Rashid Shaheed (knee) look fully recovered during OTAs, according to team beat writer Matthew Paras. Olave missed nine games last season due to multiple head injuries/concussions, while Shaheed's season ended in Week 6 after he suffered a torn meniscus. Both New Orleans wideouts are explosive play-makers with blazing speed, but health will be a concern in 2025. Additionally, they are likely to be catching passes from rookie quarterback Tyler Shough for most of the year, and rookie signal-callers traditionally struggle to support multiple fantasy-relevant pass-catchers. All that said, their positive injury updates early in the offseason are promising. Olave, priced as a mid-range WR3, could present value if Shough exceeds expectations. Shaheed remains a late-round best ball dart throw.

The New Orleans Saints are reportedly interested in trading wide receiver Chris Olave. The Pittsburgh Steelers have called the Saints asking about the availability of Olave. On paper, the Steelers do make sense after they traded wideout George Pickens to the Dallas Cowboys. The Saints appear to be headed towards a rebuild and trading Olave would get the organization a nice return. It's worth noting the Saints don't seem overly eager to trade Olave, but they'd be foolish not to listen to offers. They recently picked up the fifth-year option on Olave last month. It's hard to imagine the Saints trade Olave unless the Steelers make an unbelievable offer for the stud wideout.

ESPN's Katherine Terrell reports that the New Orleans Saints are picking up wide receiver Chris Olave's fifth-year option on Wednesday. Despite playing in a career-low eight games in 2024 in his third year in the NFL due to multiple concussions, the Saints picking up the former first-rounder's fifth-year option was a no-brainer. The 24-year-old Ohio State alumni is scheduled to make $16.8 million guaranteed on his fifth-year option in 2026. Olave cleared 1,000 yards receiving in each of his first two NFL seasons on 159 total receptions and nine touchdowns, so he has proven he has the chops to operate as a WR1 for fantasy managers when he's healthy. However, his head injuries from last year could scare many fantasy managers off this fall, as well as New Orleans' quarterback situation with Derek Carr possibly needing shoulder surgery.